This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.
Ayaz Rzayev is a Fellow with MEI’s Frontier Europe Initiative. He is a Baku-based researcher covering issues of regional security in the Black Sea and the South Caucasus. Ayaz’s main focus is security and military developments across multiple domains, including developments in cyber warfare capabilities of regional stakeholders. His work has appeared in the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies, The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor, The Diplomat, and elsewhere.
Ayaz is also a research fellow at the Topchubashov Center in Baku, Azerbaijan. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Bologna (Italy) and his Bachelor’s degree from Baku State University (Azerbaijan).
From the streets to the border: Iran’s growing paranoia toward Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani-Iranian relations have been strained since Azerbaijan’s victory in the 2020 war with Armenia. However, the situation dramatically worsened in the last few months, with Iran holding two large-scale drills near the border with Azerbaijan and accusing Baku of colluding with its enemies and interfering in its internal affairs.
Azerbaijan-Armenia clashes put an end to cautious optimism
On July 12, military clashes broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, quickly escalating into the single deadliest incident since the “four-day war” of April 2016. While violent outbreaks between the two sides are common, they usually occur on the Line of Contact around Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding territories. This time, however, fighting erupted along the internationally recognized Armenia-Azerbaijan border, far away from the actual conflict zone. With heavy use of artillery, drones, cyberattacks and disinformation – causing at least 17 combined casualties, including a well-known Azerbaijani army general – the violence risked spiraling into a major war.
